Top 10 College Application Essay Mistakes

Name: Top 10 College Application Essay Mistakes
Rating: 4.8 (16 reviews)

Avoid these common errors and write an exceptional essay.

Created byAnna Moss

Last updated 6/2023

English

English [Auto],

What you'll learn

Avoid mistakes while writing the Common App personal statement.
Find your authentic voice as a writer.
Use details and "showing, not telling" to avoid cliches.
Fix mistakes in your college application essay.

Course content

1 section • 9 lectures • 35m total length

Mistakes 1 and 2: Resume List and Writing an Academic Essay4:47
focus on chosen personal experiences over a resume list, tell a story, and balance humble brag with achievements, avoiding a five-paragraph academic essay; emphasize feelings, values, and relevance.
Quiz 1
Mistake 3: Overused Topics4:03
Identify overused college essay topics, such as big game wins or first-generation immigrant challenges, and craft a single personal story that centers you and your growth.
Mistake 4: Informal Words2:32
Polish college essays by replacing informal words with precise, semi-formal alternatives and avoiding contractions. Transform phrases like 'stuff' into descriptive terms and choose wording such as 'I learned many lessons'.
Quiz 2
Mistakes 5 and 6: More Informal Words and Inconsistent Verb Tense3:57
Replace informal words with specific, descriptive terms to sharpen your essay. Maintain a consistent verb tense per paragraph to avoid inconsistency and strengthen narrative clarity.
Quiz 4
Mistake 7: Striving for the Perfect First Draft7:40
Develop the essay through around four drafts, embracing imperfect first drafts, and use free writing or rough draft speedruns to align vision with execution.
Mistake 8: Meandering3:37
Center your personal statement on a clear conflict or challenge with one main takeaway, and ensure the conflict and takeaway have more screen time than background details.
Mistake 9: Quotes5:48
Use dialogue in college application essays to convey background details, like an injury and a doctor's six-month recovery, without overrelying on quotes; avoid random famous quotes unless truly essential.
Mistake 10: Trying to Please Everyone1:52
avoid trying to please everyone when writing your college application essay; seek feedback from loved ones but trust your gut and tell a personal story that matters to you.
Quiz 3
Thank you!1:06
Explore the most important, hardest hitting info for the writing and reading sections, while discovering English-focused courses, brain-based learning, and the college application process.

Requirements

There are no requirements.

Description

You may already have a draft of your Common App personal statement, or you may be unsure how to start. What are the most common mistakes students make?

How can you edit your essay to make your application stand out? Learn how to take your essay to the next level and avoid common mistakes in this course.

Mistake 1: Resume list. Remember that colleges already have a list of your accomplishments, awards, and grades, so there is no need to list them. At best, it is repetitive. At worst, it can feel like bragging.

Mistake 2: Writing an academic essay. The personal statement is not the place for writing a five-paragraph research paper. Instead, it should read more like a memoir, recounting a story about your life.

Mistake 3: Overused topics. In this course, you will learn about so-called "overused topics" and how to avoid cliches. Few topics are truly unusable, and by using the strategies in this course, you will be able to find a topic that speaks to you and write about it in a unique way.

Mistakes 4-5: Top 10 informal words. Which 10 words drive English teachers and college admissions officers crazy? You will learn which words to avoid in this course. Even more importantly, you will learn alternative words that you can use, so you will feel confident when editing your essay.

Mistake 6: Inconsistent verb tense. What's wrong with this sentence? Last year, I drove all the way to Michigan and win an award. Why, the verb tense, of course! "Drove" is in the past tense, while "win" is present. Make sure that your paragraphs stick to the same tense.

Mistake 7: Striving for the perfect first draft. Most great personal statements require four drafts, so don't worry about making your first draft perfect. Plan to make significant edits, and just focus on getting something down on paper, no matter how imperfect.

Mistake 8: Meandering. Make it clear what the conflict is. What is the main takeaway? What do you want admissions officers to learn about you?

Mistake 9: Dialogue vs. quotes. What is the difference, and how can the misuse of quotations destroy a good essay?

Mistake 10: Trying to please everyone. In the end, your personal statement is yours. Feedback is helpful, but sometimes you just need to trust your gut and turn it in!

Who this course is for:

Anyone applying to college and writing a college application essay.